XXX

"So?"

Zim rolled his eyes, letting out a large sigh.

"Like I said, I ruined Impending Doom I, and apparently I got banished back then, but I didn't exactly get the memo," Zim told her. "I quit being banished."

"You… quit being banished?"

"Yes. Anyway, I came back for Impending Doom II, and the Tallest sent me to Earth to re-banish me. I didn't find out the mission was fake until a few years later," Zim continued. "And then I stayed here on Earth without any contact with other Irkens… Until he freaked out and fell out of a window."

Zim was pointing at Zee, and Bee's eyes widened.

"He what?!"

"Fell out a window."

"I'm… pretty sure she heard you, Zim…," Dib sighed. "As you know, Zee's been in my class… I thought he was human until today, so I didn't exactly expect him to freak out when he saw Zim. Most humans don't ever see through Zim's disguise, so."

"Wait. That's your disguise?!"

"Humans are surprisingly stupid."

"Hey."

"You know it's true, Dib-worm."

"So, I guess Zee freaked out because he realized Zim was an Irken. And then he tried to escape out the window, I guess, and he fell," Dib explained. "Um. He's been unconscious since then."

"Damn it…," Bee hissed under her breath.

"So, what's your deal, then?" Zim asked, ignoring Bee's cursing.

At this, Bee shot him yet another glare.

"Before that," she began. "Let me be very clear. If you're lying, Zee and I are not going down without a fight. Invader or not, don't expect capturing or killing us to be easy."

"Geez, enough with the threats. Just get on with it!"

"Fine," Bee hissed. "Like I said, I was a scientist. Seventeen years ago, the Tallest gave me orders I couldn't follow, so I took Zee and left Irken space."

"Wait, seventeen years ago? So you weren't there for Impending Doom II."

"No. We did hear about it, though."

And then Zim tilted his head in thought, his eyes narrowing a bit.

"And what orders did you decide to disobey, exactly?" Zim prodded. "And what's his rank? He's pretty tall, but I've never heard of him. The only Zee I knew was an invader, and she was barely taller than me."

"Zee never had a rank," Bee replied carefully.

"You really expect me to believe an Irken of his stature wouldn't have a rank?" Zim asked, incredulous. "It's not like they would have used him as a service drone, not with that height."

Dib watched as Bee took a deep breath.

"Zee was a smeet when we left."

A pause.

"You… kidnapped a smeet?!"

But Bee shook her head.

"No. Well. Kind of. I was only a scientist for a day, assigned to one of the labs where smeets are grown," Bee replied, her voice now gaining a sad tone. "And then the Tallest came and ordered me to euthanize him."

Dib's eyes widened, and he could see that Zim's had done the same.

"What?!" Zim gasped. "But he's so- Tall! The Tallest wouldn't… Is he defective?"

"No!" Bee yelled in denial. "I checked! There was nothing suggesting he was defective! Not even a hint! In fact, it showed he had high potential…"

And then Zim put a hand over his mouth.

"... Right now, how tall is he?"

"In Earth measurements, 6 foot 1 inch."

"... Oh."

Bee looked Zim right in the eyes, silently communicating something.

"Do you understand, then?"

"... Yes."

"Um. I don't." Dib spoke up, confused.

"The… Tallest," Zim started. "They're shorter than him."

"Huh? But they're… the Tallest," Dib pointed out.

"Supposedly," Bee scoffed. "But that's why they wanted me to euthanize him. They knew he had the potential to grow taller than them, and they wanted to prevent that."

"Then why are you on Earth?" Zim questioned. "If he's taller than the Tallest, shouldn't he be the new Tallest now?"

Dib knew that Zim, despite his conflicted feelings about Irk, still had the preference for height ingrained in him. The realization of just how tall Zee was had apparently helped him settle down some about the situation.

"Well, he's still a smeet. He was practically a newborn when we left," Bee replied, settling down more herself. "In a few years, he would have that right, technically. But…"

Zim's face darkened again, and Dib could see the mixed feelings in his eyes.

"You think the Tallest will kill him."

"Of course they would. They already told me to kill him, and that was before it was even certain he would be so tall," Bee spoke bitterly.

"Wait, but… I thought Irkens had a height bias?" said Dib. "So why would they want to kill him for being tall?"

"It wasn't for being tall, Dib-stink," Zim sighed in annoyance. "It was for having the potential to grow taller than them."

Zim rubbed a hand over his face.

"Damn, this shouldn't surprise me," he mumbled to himself.

"Oh. They want to stay in power."

"Great job, Dib, want a cookie for figuring it out?"

"Zim, I just found out one of my students is an alien after watching him fall out a window. Excuse me for being a bit frazzled right now."

"You literally live with an alien."

"That's not the point-"

"I just want to keep Zee and myself safe," Bee interrupted. "I wasn't kidding earlier. If I have a reason, any reason to suspect that you're dangerous, I won't hesitate."

"Yeah, yeah, we get it," Zim replied, waving her off. "Enough with the threats, already."

And that was when Zee woke up.

XXX

Zee regained consciousness to a pounding headache. Actually, his entire body hurt, just like the time he'd been thrown off a cliff by a Giggluzzard. Okay, no, it didn't hurt as bad as that, but it still hurt pretty bad.

At the sound of nearby voices, Zee shot up. He didn't know what was going on, but he wasn't going to let anyone catch him unprepared.

"Zee!" Bee called out.

His gaze focused on her first, before quickly darting toward the other two figures in the room. One of them was Mr. Membrane, while the other was an Irken.

Now remembering what had happened earlier, Zee jumped off the couch, stumbling only slightly as he backed up.

"Oh for- Here we go again," growled the Irken. "Look. We're not gonna hurt you. We just finished explaining that I haven't had contact with the Tallest in years, and I've been banished. So enough with the freaking out already, huh?"

Zee's eyes darted back to look at Bee for confirmation.

"Well, assuming he's telling the truth, this is the Zim that ruined Impending Doom I and got banished, so for now, I think we should go along with the idea that they're not dangerous," Bee told him. "Just keep your guard up, Zee."

Zee nodded, and though he let himself relax slightly, he still kept himself ready in case one of them decided to attack.

"Wow, you guys are paranoid."

"I think we have more than enough reason to be."

"To be fair, Zim, you're paranoid literally all the time."

"Can it, Dib-worm."

Mr. Membrane sighed.

"Okay. How about I make some hot chocolate, and we can all calm down?"

And with that, the man started to walk toward Zee, making him back up further. Mr. Membrane, however, just gave him a look and continued walking, entering what was apparently a kitchen.

The air was tense as clattering sounds came from the other room, and no one spoke in the interim, the three Irkens only staring at each other suspiciously.

And then the man returned with a tray of hot chocolate, which he set on the coffee table.

"Okay, everyone sit and drink some hot chocolate," Mr. Membrane directed.

Once again, Zee looked toward Bee for guidance. The older Irken sat down with a sigh, so Zee followed her lead. The other Irken and his teacher sat down as well.

"So, how are you feeling, Zee?" asked Mr. Membrane. "I mean, you fell out of a window."

Zee's eyes narrowed suspiciously at him.

"I've had worse."

"Not what I asked."

He considered his reply before opening his mouth.

"Everything hurts."

"Oh. Um… do you want some painkillers?"

"No."

"... O… Kay…"

Zee didn't touch the drink offered to him until after Mr. Membrane and the Irken both drank and Bee nodded to tell him it was okay. Then, he took a small, careful sip of the beverage.

It was sweet on his tongue.

But that sweetness very quickly turned bitter as a thought darted across his mind.

"... Are we going to have to leave Earth…?"

He hadn't really meant to voice the thought aloud, at least, not until he and Bee were alone and could discuss it. But still, he said it, and now that he had, he needed an answer.

The young Irken really didn't want to leave Earth. He thought that they'd finally be safe here, that they didn't have to run anymore. He had friends, or a friend, at least, and he was enjoying learning at Earth school. He liked to read the Earth novels and talk about them with Ann. He liked spending time with Ann. He liked baking cookies with Bee, and going to the park, and trying new foods, and just- feeling safe.

But he also liked being alive, and he didn't know if he could feel safe now.

And even if Bee told him they would have to leave, he had to know the answer.

"... I don't know," Bee sighed. "I'm sorry, Zee… I know that this was supposed to be home for a while, but I don't know about that anymore."

"Seriously?" huffed the other Irken. "How many times do we have to tell you two that we aren't going to do anything?"

"Yeah, I know this is a scary situation, but please don't leave just because we know you're Irken now," Mr. Membrane chimed in.

"Even if you say you won't harm us or turn us in, and even if that's the truth, the Tallest know about this planet, don't they?" Bee questioned, her tone heavy. "They know you're here. And if you really are that Zim, who's to say that the Tallest won't come here because of you?"

"... I doubt it," said the other Irken, sounding almost sad. "The Tallest mostly want to avoid me at all costs. The only reason I ever really spoke to them while I was on Earth was because I would call them all the time. Besides, they probably don't even remember Earth."

"What?"

"... One time, I didn't contact them for an entire year, and they completely forgot about me- and about Earth…," he explained. "The Tallest… they don't remember things they don't like very well. Actually- they might not even remember you, especially if they think this smeet's already dead."

"They- The Tallest wouldn't just forget ordering a smeet's death after less than 2 decades!" Bee protested.

"Why wouldn't they?" scoffed the older Irken. "If they really ordered you, when you had just graduated from smeetdom yourself, to kill a smeet, do you really think they've never done this before? Come on, we've both lived on Irk. Maybe he doesn't know, but the two of us both know that most Irkens, let alone the tallest, aren't exactly opposed to bloodshed."

Zee saw Bee deflate.

"... Well, it's terrible, but… hopefully they did forget…," she muttered.

She sighed.

"Alright," Bee breathed. "Zee, I'll have to take some time and determine how safe we are, and we'll stay for now. If… If I think it's too dangerous, though, we'll have to leave."

It wasn't the answer Zee wanted, but it was better than he expected. At least there was a chance they could stay, even if only for a little while.

"... Okay."

Then, Bee stood.

"Well, we should be getting home, then," she announced. "I need to make sure that Zee isn't hurt too badly."

"Do you think you'll be in class tomorrow?" Mr. Membrane asked.

Zee shrugged, the motion causing a pulling pain in his shoulders.

"That depends on how injured he is," Bee sighed. "Come on, Zee."

And so, with a heaviness mixing with the anxiety within his mind, Zee followed Bee out the door.

XXX

So, that's the end of that whole mess.

Zim's a bit more compassionate (?) in this AU since he's been on Earth for a while and got influenced by it.

I also included some content from the movie, but I'm not really going to use the ending of the movie, where the Tallest went into the Florpus hole. I'm going more with something similar to what happened in the comics, which mostly corresponds to the beginning of the movie if you haven't read them.

The whole thing with the Tallest more or less forgetting ZIM of all Irkens is where I got the idea for them forgetting about Bee and Zee, so I wanted to include some more of that.